Red Line Green Line

Power concedes nothing without a demand! A very brief look at racism in home lending. This was for a school project that was limited to 90 seconds. Would like to have included how investment banking houses (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and the like) have profited HUGELY from subprime market predatory lending, or how elders are preyed upon when they try to refinance their homes. Next time!

(Apologies for the horrible resolution on this version. Any suggestions for better resolution, while keeping the file small?)

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• racism
• subprime
• home
• lending
• San
• Francisco
• Bay
• Area
• Bayview
• Hunter's
• Point
• U.D.I.
• Big
• Mack
• Greenlining
• Institute
• murals

[cynthianellie]

floatingdock and GaryVolts, thanks for watching and commenting.

GaryVolts: banks were acting on racist beliefs and not on experience or evidence. There is a long and continuing history of denying loans (or offering bad ones) to black and brown applicants having the same credit and qualifications as white applicants.

Credit isn't great, but few can buy a home without it. Owning a home can make it possible to have financial stability and to send kids to college.

[floatingdock]

Major Anti-predatory Lending Bill in the House Financial Services Committee - mark up on November 6th. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC dot Org) has a campaign to strengthen the bill. Head to their site and take action.

[GaryVolts]

The only color banks see is green. They didn't lend in these communities because they knew from experience that the occupants were largely uneducated in issues related to money and markets. The recent subprime foreclosure crisis reminds that yes, traditional prudent lending standards were the sustainable way of evaluating risks.

Credit isn't so great anyway. It causes prices to rise, reducing affordability. Most people use credit to pull future consumption spending into the present.